


16 Hours

by Quiddity (orphan_account)



Series: The Library [12]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Implied Romance, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-12 01:52:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11151717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Quiddity
Summary: “Hey Keith!” Shiro starts, smiling wildes at an image of himself. Six months out from Earth,  six months staring at himself while talking to his loved ones back home, and he still never got used to it. It was still hard to leave messages that sounded genuine and not like one of the endless string of his mission logs.





	16 Hours

“Hey Keith!” Shiro starts, smiling wildes at an image of himself. Six months out from Earth,  six months staring at himself while talking to his loved ones back home, and he still never got used to it. It was still hard to leave messages that sounded genuine and not like one of the endless string of his mission logs. 

“We made it! We landed on Kerberos a couple days ago and everything went just as planned. We’re all just fine,” Shiro takes a deep breath. He’s not quite sure how Keith would react to that. Either he would be overcome with relief because, as much as he denied it, Keith was prone to occasional hints of dramatics. Or Shiro could just as easily see him taking the news in stride. Shiro landing safely on the edge of the solar system was no big deal.

‘Of course you did,’ Shiro can hear Keith say. He can even imagine the way he would lean back in his chair, see that smug little grin of his. Keith took Shiro’s piloting skills as a fact of life. Sometimes it was scary, Keith’s confidence in him. 

“We’ve got home base set up, and everything made it as planned. Matt and Sam are putting the last touches on the rover and here pretty soon we’ll head out and...well,” Shiro shrugs. “Gonna start on those ice samples.” He can still hear Keith’s laugh echoing in his apartment. Traveling all the way to Kerberos only to pick up ice cylinders for eight weeks. Shiro watches himself give Keith a long suffering look. 

“We’re almost halfway there, Keith,” Shiro sighs. Six months and the ache was becoming a heavy, tangible thing sitting on his chest. Every single day, he can’t help but think about the last meal before launch. Two of the biggest, most expensive steaks they could find in the commissary. Keith across the tiny dining room table, his hair shining in the soft candlelight. Glowing and devastatingly beautiful and never believing when Shiro told him exactly that, no matter how many times he tried to convince him. How tense Keith was at first, but how pliant and gorgeous he was once he let Shiro warm him up a little. 

“I miss you, and I can’t help but think about how long it’s gonna take you to hear that from so far away.” He wishes he could say more, but he knows the Garrison screens everything being sent out beyond mission control. Kerberos is 4.5 billion miles away. It now takes 16 hours for messages to get to Earth. Shiro sighs, says his goodbyes, and sends the message off. In 16 hours, Keith will finally know for sure that he’s made it Kerberos safely. 

In 16 hours, Shiro is being dragged to a prison cell. 

**Author's Note:**

> @quiddid on tumblr


End file.
